Another Adam Mazur outing meant another series-opening win for the Iowa baseball team against Purdue at Duane Banks Field on Friday afternoon.

Mazur pitched eight or more innings for his third straight outing, tossing eight ⅔ while giving up five hits, one walk, and two runs. Through the first eight innings, Purdue only managed three hits and didn’t advance a runner past second base. 

After a relatively long first inning that included a single and Iowa’s lone fielding error of the day, Mazur settled in. 

Over the next seven innings, he threw less than 70 pitches and gave up just two hits.

“Getting some early contact and just attacking the [strike] zone, I feel like that’s what got me back on track pitch-count wise,” Mazur said postgame. “Getting the first and second-pitch outs was really big for me.”

Mazur did not pitch to a single three-ball count until the ninth inning. 

Friday marked the sixth win of Mazur’s season and his fourth in a row dating back to April 15. Over that stretch, Mazur has allowed six runs, 19 hits, and just three walks in 33 ⅔ innings of work. 

“I’m just feeling really good,” Mazur said of his recent performance. “I know that I have a great defense behind me, they showed that again today. So just pitching into the [strike] zone, letting them hit it because I know that I got a lot of good help behind me.”

Five-run third

Apart from getting the defensive help on Friday that allowed Mazur to keep the Boilermakers scoreless through the first eight innings, the sophomore from Woodbury, Minnesota, also got more than enough run support. 

All of the Hawkeyes’ scoring came from a third inning where Iowa sent nine players to the plate. 

Five hits and a walk yielded five runs for a Hawkeye team that had only scored nine total runs in its last four games. Iowa only tallied two runs against Illinois State on May 3.

RELATED: Iowa baseball falls to Illinois State, 3-2, at Duane Banks Field

Sophomore Michael Seegers, senior Peyton Williams, freshman Keaton Anthony, sophomore Will Mulflur, senior Izaya Fullard, and freshman Ben Wilmes all reached base in the frame. 

Fullard, whose single drove in the second run of the inning, went 3-for-4 on the day. 

“We know that up and down the lineup, 1-9, even guys on the bench, everyone can contribute,” Fullard said. “Not everyone’s going to be hitting home runs and doubles, but we know what kind of group we are. We know we have to drive the [opposing pitcher’s pitch count up, find different ways to get on base.

“The whole group, the whole lineup, was really tough outs on the pitcher. In the games that we’ve been able to get pitcher’s pitch counts up and get them out of the games early, we’ve had success.”

C.J. Backer, Purdue’s starting pitcher, threw 88 pitches in four ⅔ innings on Friday. 

Big picture

The win keeps Iowa in third place in the Big Ten with a conference record of 11-5. Iowa is 27-15 overall. 

The Hawkeyes all but locked up their spot in the eight-team Big Ten tournament later this month. Purdue, currently the eight seed, is 6-8 in conference play. 

Up next

The Hawkeyes and Boilermakers will play game two of the weekend set tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Duane Banks Field. The game will be streamed live on BTN +.